SOMERSET SQUASH RACKETS ASSOCIATION (SOMERSET SRA)
WINTER LEAGUE RULES  

1. Administration. Interpretation and application of these rules is at the discretion of the League Secretary, as directed by the Somerset SRA Committee. The Somerset SRA Committee will adjudicate on those occasions when either of the teams concerned does not accept the Secretary’s judgment.

2. League Composition. Any Squash Club or Facility, within or bordering Somerset and affiliated to the Squash Rackets Association (SRA), may apply to join the Somerset SRA with one or more teams. Each Division of the League shall normally consist of ten teams, with a minimum number of Six and a maximum number of eleven. The breakdown of teams will be made by the League Secretary once the final list of entrants is known. The deadline for entries will be the 15th September 2006, on which date a meeting will be held to finalise arrangements. All Clubs intending to enter must be represented at that meeting (or have made representations to the League Secretary beforehand) and must provide at that time playing details for each team (captains, home match nights/times, contact addresses/telephone numbers, names of at least 5 individually registered players, new player registrations, etc) and due subscriptions.  
All players and clubs must be affiliated to England Squash.

3. Subscriptions. A team subscription will be required  All cheques should be made payable to the Somerset SRA and will be set at appropriate levels beforehand by the Somerset SRA Committee. (£40 as agreed at the 2005 AGM.)

4. Team Composition (Legality of Players). A team must consist of bona fide members of the respective Club. No player may represent more than one Club per season. A player may not play for more than one team in a given week. Once a player has played more than twice for a higher-ranked Club team then he shall be barred from representing a lower team for the rest of the season (though this ruling may be relaxed if a player is no longer able to command a place in a higher team for whatever reason). If a Club has more than one team in the same Division, then players may only play for one of those teams during the season. A Club may introduce no new players during the last quarter of the season. A player must be registered if he is to play three times or more for a Club in a season (the registration form plus payment may be sent in at or close to the same time as the match result). Unless both the League Secretary and opposition captain has agreed to it beforehand or there has been a genuine misunderstanding, any points gained by an illegal player (as defined by any of the above rules) will be forfeited to the opposition as a 3-0 win. This will also apply to all those playing below the offending player in the team order. The same procedure will also apply in the case of a player failing to appear on court.
N.B. All players must be affiliated to England Squash

5. Team Order of Merit. A team must play in an order appropriate to the perceived playing abilities of its players. The first result card submitted at the start of each season quarter will set the order for the remainder of matches played during that quarter. New players must be inserted in a position appropriate to their playing standard. If a player plays out of order, a 3-0 win will be awarded to the opposition and similarly to all others affected in the lower playing order (unless the opposition captain has agreed to the order switch beforehand for the sake of playing convenience). If court time runs out before completion of a match then the remaining games and part-games will be awarded to the away team.

6. Matches. A match will consist of five ties, each being the best of five games in accordance with the standard SRA rules of squash. A match should normally be played in the week stipulated in the fixture list unless rearranged by mutual consent. There is no obligation to accept a rearranged fixture except for when inclement weather makes travel unreasonable or when courts are unavailable. All matches for the first half of the season must be played by the start of the second half and those of the second half within two weeks of the end of the season. If it proves impossible to rearrange by a suitable date then a "double-header" may be accepted by the League Secretary if both teams are in agreement. If a match is not played by the due date and a double-header cannot be agreed upon, then a walkover shall be awarded against the offending team; if both teams are deemed to be at fault then points will be awarded to neither team.

7. Walkovers. A team successfully claiming a walkover will be awarded 15 points. The team conceding the walkover will be penalised by -3 points. Every effort should be made to rearrange a match, a walkover will be awarded if a match cannot be rearranged.  Any team having three walkovers awarded against it will be withdrawn from the League; all of its previous matches will be declared null and void.

8. Start Times. Start times will be published by the League Secretary in the fixture lists at the start of the season and may be changed only by the mutual consent of the team captains. At the appointed start time each team should strive to have at least three players present and the remaining two must arrive within one hour of commencement, unless previously agreed otherwise. If a player is unavailable to play on a free court in reasonable time then the opponent is entitled to claim the tie 3-0.

9. Scoring. Each game won in a tie is worth one point; three bonus points will be awarded to the team winning the most ties.

10. Result Cards. The home and away captains are responsible for the completion and dispatch of the result cards.

11. Hospitality.  The home team will provide a supper and a drink for the visiting team after the match.  The social side of the evening is a very important part of the fixture and captains should therefore make every effort to ensure that this is upheld.

12. League Result. This will be decided by the total points scored. In the case of a tie, then the games difference (for – against) will be used. The bottom 2 teams in a Division will normally be relegated and replaced by the top 2 teams of the next lower Division. The teams in each division will play each other twice in each half of the season.  At the end of the first half there will be  promotion and relegation of 2 teams, per division, 2 up and 2 down.  There will be play offs at the end of the season between the winners of the first and second half of the season to declare the final winners of each division.

13. Knockout Cup. A knockout cup and plate competition will now be a standard part of the Somerset Squash calendar and will be seeded based on the final positions of the Winter League last season.

Top of Page